DeJ Loaf raises the stakes on scorching single “Like a Hoe”

Last summer, a little earworm of a track seemed to sprout out of nowhere, gaining heat in the streets and then setting fire to the charts. “Try Me,” the straight-shooting single from Detroit emcee DeJ Loaf was an unexpected success story from a city that by now should be used to them, but the song’s meteoric rise and the subsequent pickup of DeJ by Columbia was proof that good things come in small packages. Since then, the artist released a well-received mixtape and has guested on tracks by the likes of Eminem and Tinashe. Now, she’s ready to soundtrack the Summer of 2015.

“Like a Hoe” features a menacing backing track by Ypsilanti producer DDS, whom DeJ Loaf has worked with before quite often. That foreboding atmosphere is the appropriate aural setting for the rapper’s barbs against her haters, which are as pointed as ever — she shoots with the precision of a sniper, and her bullets pierce the thickest armor. This, despite a flow that is deceptively sing-songy and bordering on marble-mouthed; DeJ seems to have adopted the stance of drawing her enemies in close by withholding huge displays of bravado. And why should she? “Keep it on the low/ DL my initials.”

DeJ Loaf’s And See That’s the Thing EP is expected to be released soon. She will join Tinashe, Rae Sremmurd, and Meek Mill this summer as opening acts for Nicki Minaj on The Pinkprint Tour, which stops at DTE Energy Music Theatre on July 31. Listen to “Like a Hoe” below: